Detroit Pistons hire Ed Stefanski as senior advisor

The Detroit Pistons, finally, have moved one step closer to revitalizing a front office and coaching search that developed after the departure of Stan Van Gundy earlier this month.

And they know who they want as coach, too.

Veteran NBA executive Ed Stefanski signed a three-year contract to serve as executive in the Pistons organization, and will report directly to Tom Gores as a special advisor, the team announced Thursday.

Stefanski will be tasked with hiring a GM and a coach in Detroit. Stefanski was part of the group that originally hired Casey back in Toronto.

Casey was sacked by Toronto despite leading the team to a franchise record 59-win season and the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Pistons have missed the playoffs in eight of the last nine seasons.

Langdon interviewed for a job with the Pistons prior to the Stefanski hire but remains a candidate, Wojnarowski reports.

While in Memphis, Stefanski helped construct a roster that reached the playoffs in three of his four years there.

A native of Philadelphia, Setfanski has ties to former Pistons head coach Chuck Daly, who led the team to back-to-back National Basketball Association championships during the Bad Boy era. He played under Daly for three seasons on the University of Pennsylvania's men's basketball team before graduating in 1976 and later drafted by the 76ers in the 10th round of that year's draft.